2. Building Block: Awareness

High self-esteem is a desirable quality, but you can’t have it without self-acceptance.

Self-acceptance is an absolutely essential component of having high self-esteem, but what does self-acceptance mean? Some people think accepting yourself just as you are means that you condone or are proud of your faults – but that is a mistaken idea. You see, to “accept” means to experience the full reality, without denial or avoidance. We can accept the reality of things about ourselves that we don’t like or condone at all.

For example, suppose you are feeling envious of a friend who has a better job. If you accept yourself, you can allow yourself to acknowledge this envious feeling and take the time to examine and think about it. As we do this, we are not concerned with judging it as bad or weak, but we are concerned with being aware. It is our awareness that will show us that we have wanted something more than we realized, and we will need to think about that as well.

You see, you can’t grow out of your unwanted feelings if you are not aware that you even have them. If you judge your feelings as bad or weak, you’ll be inclined to push them down into your subconscious where they’ll express themselves in ways you can’t control.

So, the next time you find yourself thinking something you feel guilty about, try practicing awareness and self-acceptance. This means refusing to be in an adversarial relationship with yourself, and this is one of the basic building blocks of self-esteem. ~The Pacific Institute

Describing the World: The Natural Sciences & Art

July 24-28, 2017 | 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily

Recharge your creative batteries in this five-day intensive program exploring the intersection of the natural sciences and the arts. The natural sciences include life and physical science—and much like the arts—often employ a creative and imaginative response to the world we live in. The Institute is led by Maryhill’s executive director, Colleen Schafroth, and features guest artists and presenters throughout the week. Extracurricular activities can include visits to artist’s studios and regional institutions. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow artists, arts educators and others seeking to deepen their art practice and explore new avenues of creative thinking.

COST: $195 member / $215 non-member. For an additional cost 30 clock hours or 3 credit hours are available through PSU Graduate School of Education / Continuing Education.

4. Sherman County Sheriff’s Office May Incident Report

5. Record generation from Columbia Generating Station yields largest privilege tax payment to state

RICHLAND, Wash. – Energy Northwest paid more than $5.3 million in privilege taxes to the state of Washington today, a record for the agency. The annual tax is levied on public power electricity producers for the privilege of generating electricity in the state.

The amount of the annual privilege tax is directly tied to the amount of electricity generated. Columbia Generating Station, the third largest generator of electricity in the state, produced more than 9.6 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity during 2016, a record for the plant.

“Nuclear energy in Washington state produces a tremendous amount of carbon-free electricity that directly helps the environment,” said Brent Ridge, vice president and chief financial officer. “But we also provide tremendous economic benefits in terms of jobs and tax contributions that support families and our communities.”

The public power agency produces electricity at its four generating facilities: Columbia Generating Station, Nine Canyon Wind Project, Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project and White Bluffs Solar Station. Generation at these four facilities totaled more than 9.9 million megawatt-hours of electricity during calendar year 2016.

Columbia produced more than 96 percent of the total power generated by Energy Northwest, which is provided at the cost of production to the Bonneville Power Administration for resale to customers in six Western states.

The privilege tax is levied on organizations that enjoy the privilege of generating, distributing or selling electricity in Washington, and is authorized in the Revised Code of Washington sections 54.28.020 and 54.28.025.

Privilege taxes collected by the state on Columbia output will be distributed, as authorized by RCW 54.28.050, RCW 54.28.055 and RCW 54.28.040, with 44.9 percent of the payment – $2.37 million – going to the state school fund and 10.2 percent of the payment – $543,015 – going to the state general fund. The remaining 44.9 percent of the total taxes – another $2.37 million – will go to jurisdictions within a 35-mile radius of the Benton County intersection of Stevens Drive and Horn Rapids Road, with distribution based upon the population in each area.

The 37 separate jurisdictions receiving payments within the 35-mile radius of Columbia includes Benton, Franklin, Yakima, Walla Walla and Grant counties; the cities of Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, West Richland, Grandview, Sunnyside, Prosser, Connell, Benton City and Mesa; along with four library and 18 fire districts in the counties receiving payments. Nineteen-point-eight percent of the tax is distributed to counties ($1,042,589), 20.6 percent to cities ($1,089,979), 2.7 percent to fire districts ($142,171) and 1.8 percent to library districts ($94,781).

Energy Northwest has paid approximately $92.3 million in privilege taxes on its electricity since Columbia Generating Station began operating in 1984, while generating no greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Northwest also paid $73,253 in privilege taxes, under RCW 54.28.020, for electricity produced at the agency’s non-thermal electric power producing sites. Those include Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project near Packwood, Wash; Nine Canyon Wind Project, south of Kennewick, and White Bluffs Solar Station near Columbia Generating Station north of Richland. Fifty-six percent of the taxes associated with the non-thermal generation was distributed to local counties (Lewis – $11,562 and Benton – $29,448), 33.7 percent to the state school fund ($24,712) and 10.3 percent to the state general fund ($7,531).

Other taxes paid by Energy Northwest in 2016 totaled more than $8.1 million. They are:

–Sales Tax: $7,852,546

–Leasehold Tax: $227,878 (*A tax on the use of public property by private party. This tax is in lieu of the property tax.)

–B&O Tax: $33,447 (*State B&O tax is a gross receipts tax. It is measured on the value of products, gross proceeds of sale, or gross income of the business.)